Treasure the Real Me
by xKairix
Summary: You treasure that little part of "me", so...you have to treasure the real me even more' It's always a wonder... NaruxSaku; SasuxIno; ShikaxIno WARNING: CONTAINS ONE MILD WORD!


**Yes! xKairix is back once again!**

**A cute little one shot that I wrote up in less than 2 days (can you believe it?) after reading a cute oneshot manga so the whole storyline isn't entirely mine...;;**

**I tried to keep the characters in character as much as possible so hope I didn't disappoint you. **

**WARNING: CONTAINS ONE MILD WORD!! READ AT OWN RISK!!**

**Enjoy!**

**Treasure the Real Me,**

**A Naruto One Shot.**

"Sakura, do you have a crush on anybody?"

"What?" a pink headed girl asked back, taken off guard. She started to feel drops of sweat forming onto her face. "Why are you asking this right now?" she asked nervously, trying to avoid answering.

"Because you're eating the cookies you made in cooking club yourself," her best friend stated, wagging a finger in front of her face. A cheeky grin was clearly plastered on her face as she tried to hide her nosiness; although, she was clearly known for it so it wasn't anything new. She flipped back her long blonde hair. "Well, you _do _have one, right? Come on! You can tell me; we're best friends! Come on, tell me, who's your crush!"

"It's me!"

Silence.

"NARUTO!!" Sakura screamed loudly.

_It was a wonder as to why Naruto's fan girls didn't hear Sakura's scream when they were passing the classroom. . ._

"Shh!" Naruto hissed from behind Sakura's chair.

The three of them stayed silent as Naruto's fan girls passed outside the classroom, looking for him.

"Naruto-sama!"

"Where are you, Naruto-san?"

"DON'T RUN AWAY!"

_It's a wonder how they still have their voices since all they do all day is screaming to their beloved. . ._

After they passed, the three of them let go of their breaths they were holding in.

Sakura turned to Naruto with a cheeky grin. "Are you hiding from the girls again? You womanizer," she added.

Naruto signed in relief. Normally he liked the attention, after being the reject his whole life, but today was just _stupid_! They were practically craving for every inch of him. "Phew!" he signed heavily and flopped onto the floor as though his chakra has completely run out. He jumped up and clung onto Sakura as if his chakra was fully restored and he wasn't tired. "I TOLD THEM THAT SAKURA-CHAN IS MY GIRLFRIEND BUT THEY STILL WON'T GIVE UP, SAKURA-CHAN!!" Naruto cried, with tears running down his face at the rate of a waterfall.

Sakura ripped the crying blonde off her and shook him by the neck. "WHO'S YOUR GIRLFRIEND?!"

_It's also a wonder how Naruto survives through this everyday. . ._

Sakura's best friend suddenly came up to Naruto and saved him from the torture he goes through everyday as she pulled Naruto away from Sakura. Fake sparkles glittered around her eyes but the cheeky grin really gave it away. "Oh! So you're Sakura's. . ."

"Don't believe him, Ino-pig!" Sakura turned away, a blush on her face. "He made that up! I'll never like such a joyous guy like Naruto!" she explained.

'Ino-pig' snapped, her fake innocence gone. "THEN WHAT KIND OF GUYS DO YOU LIKE THEN?! HUH?!"

"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!!"

"BILBOARD BROW!!"

"INO-PIG!!"

_It's a wonder why they're even best friends in the first place. . ._

"D-d-d-don't fight, you guys," Naruto cried weakly. The demonic auras the girls were giving out were so murderous that they could've crushed him if he knew better.

In a flash they turned on him.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

They towered over the shrinking and sweating boy.

"A-a-ah! N-no-nothing, Sakura-chan!"

"Ah!" Sakura gasped as she turned back to normal. "Do you have anything _else_ to do?" she stared at Naruto.

"Err . . . yup!" Naruto grinned his trademark grin. "That's right! I have something to show you!" He threw his hands in the air like a little kid, proud of his achievement, and pranced around the two girls. He stopped and spread his legs apart and took a stance, a determined look swept over his face. He shifted his eyes around and finally laid his eyes back to his audience. "Guess what?" he barely whispered, eyes wide.

The two girls were so drawn in that they whispered back, "What?" Their eyes were so wide and their lips quivered as their bottom lip hung low that they seemed like total goofballs.

Naruto stared at them for a few seconds, before shrugging. "Nothing."

Silence.

"NARUTO!!"

_It's a wonder how Naruto survived with two raging girls attacking him. . ._

"Ino?"

"Ah, Sasuke-kun!" Ino turned around and smiled at her boyfriend.

Upon hearing the name, Sakura's ears pricked up and her eyes glanced away from the blonde she was strangling. She watched as Ino walked over to her boyfriend and hugged his arm that wasn't stuffed in his pockets like they usually are. She signed.

_Oh, good, I got away with it. . . I can't tell Ino who I like, even if she my best friend. . ._

_I can't tell her the person I like. . ._

_. . . is her boyfriend._

"I'll walk you home," Sasuke grumbled in his usual voice.

Ino beamed up at him. She waved, "good bye" to Sakura and Naruto before returning her full attention to Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded good bye and started walking Ino back home without a word.

"Bye," Sakura whispered as she watched them chat and walk further away. She signed. "Why can't it be me?"

"What?"

Silence.

"NARUTO!!"

"Yes?" Naruto grinned as for the third time that day, he was getting strangled to death. A light bulb appeared over his head. "I no!" he cried. "Let's go home together too! "

Sakura signed and rubbed her temples. "Why would I go with you. . ."

"Sakura!"

. . .

_So what, he just called you your first name without a. . ._

"What was that?!"

"I'll call Sakura Sakura, and Sakura can call me Naruto! " Naruto grinned.

_It's a wonder just really how pissed Sakura got when Naruto called her name without an honorific. . ._

"GET LOST!" Sakura towered over Naruto. "Besides, I already call you Naruto."

Naruto turned away, waved his hand and cried. "Oh, you don't have to slap me after a 0.01 second refusal, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura signed. She giggled.

_I really can't stand him._

--

"Stop your bouncing! It's embarrassing!" Sakura blushed as Naruto continued bouncing beside her.

"It's because this is the first time we are going home together, Sakura-chan! Hehe!"

Sakura signed and suddenly, something caught her attention. She saw Sasuke and Ino at an entrance to one of the junior high buildings.

_Still there? Those two. . ._

_EH?! SHE GAVE HIM THE COOKIES WE MADE TODAY!! He looks happy. . ._

_T-this . . . is hard to deal with. . ._

Naruto observed Sakura as she stared at the happy couple. "So, the person Sakura-chan likes," he started slowly, "is Ino's boyfriend? Sasuke-teme?

Heat suddenly rose to Sakura's face.

"What a tragedy. . ." Naruto signed, nodding his head as he spoke, "If Sakura-chan likes him, then there's no hope at all."

Sakura cast her eyes down. "S-so . . . what?"

Grin. "SO JUST FORGET HIM AND DATE ME! "

_It's a wonder how such a moment was broken up by a certain idiot's words. . ._

"BYE!!"

"Nya! " Naruto cried as he cried tears in the ground.

_What was that; 'just forget him'?! He doesn't understand at all! Baka Naruto! Really, I want to 'just forget him' instead!_

"Ne, ne, Sakura-chan! Let's walk home together tomorrow too! "

"WHO ARE YOU ASKING!?

--

"Wow! The apple pie you made is so pretty, Sakura. It's so professional," Ino stared at the apple pie in awe as a group of girls started to crowd around Sakura's desk.

"I'm flattered," Sakura grinned awkwardly.

"And mine turned out like this. . ."

Silence.

_It was always a wonder how Ino made such failed apple pies. . ._

"Bu-but this is also the memorial pie of you and Sasuke-san, right?" the shy and timid Hyuuga Hinata chirped.

"Huh? Really? I want to listen to the story!" Tenten whined like a little kid who wanted a lollypop.

"Well, it's like this. . ." Ino shifted her eyes around before giving them thumbs up which nearly resembled the gay 'good man' pose. "I gave this to Sasuke-kun as an answer the day after he confessed!"

"Eh? Really?" Tenten grinned and provoked Ino for more details.

Sakura, deciding that she really didn't want to hear it, was washing the dishes.

_That's right . . . and I was accompanying her too!_

A picture of a grinning Naruto popped into her head.

_That was . . . when I met him . . . for the first time. . ._

Sakura signed. _It's unreturned love. . . There's no hope since Sasuke-kun confessed to Ino first. . ._

_This apple pie is useless now. . ._

"Wow! Its looks delicious!" Naruto drooled at Sakura's apple pie.

Silence.

"NARUTO, WHY ARE YOU HERE?!

_It's a wonder how Sakura didn't die of heart attack. . ._

"Oh, so Sakura-chan knows me!" Naruto grinned.

"Of course I know you, baka." Sakura crossed her arms. "Wait . . . aren't you hiding from girls again, you womanizer?"

"Correct!" Naruto grinned. But he gasped and shoved his face in front of Sakura's. "Can I have this?"

Sakura backed away, surprised and blushing. "It doesn't taste good at all," she put bluntly.

You don't often get to see an honest smile from Naruto, which was why Sakura was frozen stiff as she stared at him as he said:

"No, its must be delicious," Naruto smiled. His eyes softened even more as he cast them down. "Because Sakura-chan put her heart into making it."

The smile just seemed to have an effect on Sakura. It was so honest and pure, unlike his usual grins that was full of mischief and cheekiness.

". . ." Sakura stared at Naruto. "Well . . . okay . . ."

_Maybe . . ._

_My first impression of him wasn't that bad. . ._

_N-No, you mustn't, Sakura! You can't have feelings for him before you forget Sasuke-kun!_

"Sakura-chan, after school activities are done! Let's go home together!" Naruto grinned. He took notice of the heart shaped box that Sakura was holding, but not knowing what shape it was. "Sakura-chan, what's that?"

"A-Apple pie," Sakura stuttered. A blush rose to her face, growing darker than her pink hair.

"Another apple pie?" Naruto cocked his head to the side.

Silence.

_It was a wonder how dumb that blonde was for not noticing the shape of it. . ._

"OOH, I WANT TO EAT IT! " Naruto cried, eyes sparkling.

"And I won't give it to you!" Sakura huffed and turned away.

_Where was that heartbeat?_

"A-ah, I'll give you mine, Naruto-kun," Ino tried to smile, "It might not be as delicious as Sakura's though. . ."

"Ino? Why? Isn't it for Sasuke. . . ?"

"Sorry, Ino." Naruto smiled at Ino apologetically, but it wasn't as pure and full of innocence as the one he gave Sakura. "I just want . . . to eat the pie that Sakura made with her hands! "

Bang!

_It was a wonder why Sakura never notice that she just threw a heart shaped box at a certain blonde's head. . ._

"Hey Ino?" Sakura asked her best friend as they walked down the hallways and started to walk to the school gates. "What happened between you and Sasuke-kun?"

Ino avoided Sakura's gaze and looked down at her shoes. "N-Nothing."

When Sakura was about to say something comforting, Ino suddenly changed moods.

"Don't worry! Come on, Sakura! Let's go and get some ice-cream!"

_Wasn't their relationship very smooth? But weird . . . why am I so calm? W-Why is that?_

"Oi, Sakura."

The familiar voice instantly caught Sakura's attention. Ino turned away.

"What?" Sakura asked the raven haired.

Sasuke shrugged. "There's an idiot in front of the school, yelling out, 'Do you know where Sakura-chan is?'. He's asking mostly the girls surrounding the idiot." Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "I think you should know. You might want to save that idiot's sanity."

"W-wha . . . ?"

". . ."

"BAKA!"

"Huh? Sakura?" Sasuke watched the girl run at a high speed. He turned around and an awkward silence fell as he stared at his former girlfriend.

Silence.

_It was always a wonder to Ino as to how Sasuke could stay so emotionless and straight-faced. . ._

"Ah! Saaakura-chaaan! " an annoying voice yelled out.

"Oh!" gasped a fan girl.

"That's here?" another fan girl asked.

"NARUTO!!" Sakura twitched and started to unleash her inner Sakura. "YOU SHOULD GO HOME!! GEEZ, YOU'RE SUCH A WOMANIZER!!"

"Everyone, bye bye! " Naruto grinned and waved good bye to his fan girls.

"Ok!"

"Bye bye, Naruto-san! "

"Bye everyone . . . !" Naruto soon found himself being dragged by a venting Sakura. "How did you know I was at the front of the school, Sakura-chan? Was it the power of love?"

"First off, Naruto, it's because. . ."

Stop.

_Eh?_

"Sakura-chan?"

_I was talking to Naruto without the feeling of the thumping in my chest. . ._

_. . . because my mind was full of him. . ._

"Naruto. . ." Sakura looked down, "What part do you like about me?"

Silence.

_It was a wonder how things could change with such a simple question. . ._

Silence. Again.

"Your looks!"

Thump!

An angered Sakura rose from the ground behind Naruto getting ready to give him the bashing of his life.

"Just kidding!" Naruto folded his arms behind his head. A soft look swept over his face. "Sakura-chan is careful not to have any feelings for me. . ." Naruto started to crack, "until she can truly forget Sasuke, right?

"Because if Sakura-chan can't, she will hurt the other. I think this is what it means to love somebody. I don't have such feelings right now, and that's why I'm not dating.

"In the beginning, I only liked Sakura-chan for her looks. But now the part I like . . . is everything about Sakura-chan, especially her self-discipline.

"I truly love Sakura-chan very much. . . I love you, Sakura."

_I think I can finally forget Sasuke-kun._

_And it's because of another person._

"Hand!" Sakura snapped, flushed.

"Huh?" Naruto blinked.

"Hand!" Sakura snapped again. "Give me your hand."

"O-okay!"

Sakura took out a pen from who knows where and started to write on his hand.

"S-Sakura-c-cha-an! It t-ti-ckles! Saku-ra-chan, s-stop!" Naruto cried as his hand was written on.

"Done!" Sakura chirped, pleased with her work. She turned on her heel and ran off. "Bye!"

"Eh?" Naruto stared at his written on hand.

_Wait for me. . ._

Naruto read: Please wait a bit longer.

_It was a wonder how Naruto could smile so sincerely twice in one day. . ._

_Wait a bit more, I feel like I can forget Sasuke-kun._

"I said it! I finally said it! Or wrote it. . . But . . . hehe! I feel so refreshed!" A light smile hovered on her face. It disappeared when she was a certain blonde with a sad look on their face.

"Oh! It's you!"

"Ino. . ."

--

"YOU HAD AN ARGUMENT?!"

The scream was heard through out the park. The ice-cream man winced as he knew he never should have served his recent customers. . .

Ino nodded as she took a lick from her chocolate ice-cream. "When you left me for Naruto," she coldly replied.

"What happened? Wasn't your relationship going smoothly?" Not once had Sakura licked her strawberry ice-cream that matched her hair.

"It's all your fault," Ino glared at Sakura.

"What . . . ?" Sakura stared at Ino. Her heart pumped faster and faster. What was her best friend talking about?

"Because. . . the desserts you made WERE TOO DELICIOUS!!" Ino thrust up a piece of Sakura's cheese cake with a bit of it bitten off, crying tears.

_It was a wonder how Ino changed moods so quickly. . ._

"Huh?!"

"I'm joking!" Ino waved her hand lazily in front of her. "But. . . Sasuke-kun hates sweets but he insists on eating mine. But they're yucky, and overcooked," she added sadly. "He insists upon eating them for my sake, and I feel bad. . ."

"So this is the reason why you wanted to give your apple pie to Naruto?" Sakura blinked.

"Y-yeah. . ." Ino pushed her pointer fingers together. "I didn't want to give it to Sasuke-kun in fear that he had enough, but Naruto didn't want any either. Yours are just delicious!"

"A-ah! Well, I think. . ." Sakura tried to think of a way to cheer her best friend up. "That isn't exactly the reason Naruto didn't want it. . . How do I put it?"

Ah!" Ino pounded her fist into her left hand. "That's right! He wanted to eat the one that you made, Sakura!"

"Don't mention it!" Sakura started to furiously lick her ice cream. She stopped and stared at the ground for a second. "So that pie you made is the reason why you argued?"

"Yeah," Ino signed softly. "I wouldn't give it to him, and he got angry, thinking that I gave it to another guy."

"Then give it to him, and get back together!" Sakura grinned at her genius plan.

"B-but it doesn't taste good!"

"That doesn't matter, didn't you say that just now? 'He wanted to eat the one Sakura made'" Sakura licked her ice-cream. "Isn't that the reasoning same here? Sasuke-kun doesn't care about the taste; he just wants the 'Ino made' one.

Ino hesitated.

"What is it? Don't you like Sasuke-kun anymore?" she joked. Her joking smiled was wiped off completely when she saw Ino shaking. "Ino?"

"I-I . . . don't like Sasuke-kun a-any-more," Ino whispered. "I like . . ." she blushed. "Nara Shikamaru . . ."

"Eh?" Sakura gasped. "The lazy ass who always says, 'how troublesome'?"

Ino nodded furiously and concentrated on her ice-cream.

Sakura smiled. "It's okay. Just confess to him if you want him that bad!" she grinned.

Ino smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, thanks." She stopped. "What about Sasuke-kun?"

Sakura shrugged. "Apologize to him. Tell him the whole story and he'll be sure to forgive you."

Ino stared at Sakura. She stood up from the bench they were sitting on and raised her fist. "I will apologize to Sasuke-kun and confess to Shikamaru!"

"That's the way!" Sakura cheered.

Ino turned around, catching Sakura off guard. "Thanks," she smiled. "I feel much better. What would I do without you?"

"Don't worry about it," Sakura smiled back.

"I need to find some way to. . ." A grin spread its way across Ino's face. "Here's the deal! If you ever get into a fight with Naruto, just come to me!"

"W-Why'd you mention him?!"

"Eh? Don't you like him, _Sakura-chan_?" Ino teased then signed. "Still won't admit it. . ."

_It's a wonder how the girls got back into a fight so quickly. . ._

_Just now. . . I said it so naturally, I even surprised myself. . . I actually said, 'get back together'. . ._

_I can finally forget him. . ._

Stomp, stomp, stomp!

_He's here!_

"SAAAAKURA-CHAAAAN! " Naruto bounced right up and shoved his face in front of Sakura's. "Tomorrow's Saturday, so how about going out with me?"

"I can't," Sakura put bluntly. "I have to make desserts with Ino."

Crash! Bang! Ooh, rejection.

"Sniff. . . Sakura cheery blossom says, 'you are cold', Sakura-chan!"

"You still have that?!"

"I did say that I will treasure it forever because. . ." Naruto smiled softly, "because it was by the cheery blossoms when I first met Sakura-chan. This just happened to land on her. She moved and it fell off . . . and . . . and . . . this is a little part of SAKURA-CHAN!!"

"Hmm?"

Sakura saw her best friend and her crush holding hands - Shikamaru with an extremely annoyed look on his face - and her best friend's ex by the lockers outside the classroom. Ino and Shikamaru was now officially an item and Ino was apologizing to Sasuke with Shikamaru dragged into it. Shikamaru was mumbling, 'How troublesome' and looked like he really didn't want to be there. Sasuke couldn't care less. He shrugged and walked away. Ino squealed and hugged her new boyfriend who had a really embarrassed and annoyed look on his face. Stand biers hooted and whistled.

Sakura smiled softly.

"SAAAKURA-CHAAAN!! WERE YOU LISTENING?!" an annoying but familiar voice snapped her back to where she was.

"Of course!" Sakura replied. "I'm a part of the Sakura cherry blossom! No . . . wait . . ."

_It's a wonder how you could say that even after you got snapped out from your day dreams. . ._

_You treasure that little part of "me", so . . ._

Wait! Are you free the day after tomorrow?"

_. . . you have to treasure the real me even more!_

**The End.**

**Yes! That's the end of Treasure the Real Me. I couldn't think of a better title x3  
Sorry if it was a bit hard to follow.**

**Yes, Sasuke and Ino were an item for a short while... But ShikamaruxIno is much cuter!**

**Review please! And who knows, if I get enough reviews, I might make a sequel to it because I already have an idea in my head for the sequel (now I just have to get around writing it up when I feel motivated so review please! x3).**

**-xKairix**


End file.
